


Chichi Santa

by Ebhenah



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acxa is a mom, Adoption, Baby's First Christmas, Christmas Feels, Christmas Party, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Found Family, I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, Jaith Dads, James Griffin is a Dad, Jeith Dads, Keith is a dad, Lance is a Dad, M/M, Other, Post-Canon, Shance dads, Shiro dresses up as Santa, Single Dad Hunk, Single Mom Pidge, Veraxca moms, Veronica is a mom, cute kid antics, domestic Atlas life, holiday feels, interspecies families (aliens), life on the atlas, mistletoe kisses, shiro is a Dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22149826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: Captain of the Atlas, and happily married father of two, Shiro has taken up the mantle of playing Santa for the children of the Atlas crew. It's one of the highlights of his year and he's been doing it since before he and Lance even got married. This year there is a slight hiccup, though...
Relationships: Acxa/Veronica (Voltron), James Griffin/Keith (Voltron), Lance & Keith & Pidge & Hunk & Acxa & Veronica & James, Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Chichi Santa

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LunarMysteries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarMysteries/gifts).



> Written for LunarMysteries as part of the Shance Holiday Exchange
> 
> I was thrilled to be able to combine THREE of the prompts from her Wishlist:  
> -Mistletoe kiss  
> -Baby's first Christmas  
> -Shiro playing Santa for the Voltron kids (maybe shance having their own kid *side-eye emoji* and I saw daddy kissing Santa Claus situation)
> 
> I hope you like it, LunarMysteries!! 
> 
> For reference, here are the names and ages of the "Pala-kids":  
> Akari McClain (3) & Gabrielle Shirogane (4mo)  
> Regris (6), Lexi (2) & Liam (2) Griffin  
> Nikola Holt (4)  
> Samual Garrett (1)  
> Narti McClain (5)

The Atlas Holiday party was always a big hit, with lots of music and food and jam-packed with the families of all the crew showing up to celebrate. This year was no different, and by the time the last of the party-goers made their way home, leaving only the inner circle that Pidge had coined “The Voltron Clan”, Lance was sure Shiro was going to pass out.

It was tradition for him to dress up as Santa and hand out gifts to all the children. He’d been doing it for years, and the padding he wore, combined with the fake beard and wig and all the heavy velvet of the costume made for a really warm day. The last thing anyone wanted to explain to the children was ‘Santa’ fainting from overheating though, so on his way to the changing table, Lance pulled Acxa aside and asked her to make sure that Shiro got some ice water.

Side-stepping around chairs he balanced his daughter on his shoulder. “Hey Narti! What did Tio Lance tell you about spinning like that?”

“But I **like** gettin’ dizzy,” his niece argued, her golden eyes peeking out from under a ridiculously adorable glare, “an’ Galra don’t get motion sickness! Mama said so!”

“Nikola does though, and he’s copying you… so don’t get mad at me if he gets sick and ruins your pretty dress.”

Narti gasped, horrified, and spun on her heel to confront her friend, “stop it, Nik!”

“You stop it!”

“Can you both stop it?” Regris stepped between them, “we gotta set a’zample for all de’babies!”

Not hard to tell which of the kids were only children and which had siblings, reflected Lance, setting Gabrielle on the changing table. “Let’s get you all cleaned up, princess. How’s that sound?” The four month old blinked at him, chewing enthusiastically on her fist and kicking as he peeled her out of her little elf shoes and tights. “Oof… how does someone as cute as you make such a big stink?” he asked playfully, keeping her engaged as he got her cleaned up, “this is a big stinky, Gabrielle! Super big!!” She giggled at his antics, the sound making his heart swell. Seriously, was there _anything_ better than a baby’s laughter?

“Papi!” His older daughter tugged at his pant leg, “where’s Chichi? He’s gonna miss the whole party!”

She looked so worried and stricken it broke his heart a little. Akari was such a sweet-natured child. Even at three she was very concerned with making sure that no one felt left out and no one was ‘being mean’. Fixing Gabrielle’s tights, he settled the baby on his hip and crouched down to meet his daughter’s big brown eyes, “we talked about this, remember, nena? Chichi is flying the Atlas. He’s keeping us all nice and safe so we can have fun at the party.”

“But… he misses us,” she declared, “he’s gonna be lonely!”

“You are very sweet, but Chichi is not lonely, I promise!” He glanced over to the big chair where ‘Chichi’ sat, with Hunk’s son Samuel perched on his lap as Hunk absolutely filled his phone with pictures of the one year old chewing on Shiro’s fake Santa beard. Nope, Shiro was definitely not lonely at the moment- surrounded by family and friends. Unfortunately, he couldn’t explain that to Akari without her announcing Santa’s real identity to all of the other children… and Shiro loved doing this. It was cute how much of a kick he got out of playing Santa for the families on the Atlas.

“But… Tia Vero is here!” she insisted, “he’s all alone at work!”

“Akari,” he laughed, “lots of people work on the Bridge with Chichi, not _just_ Tia Vero! Look- Uncle Coran isn’t here, right? He works on the Bridge, too.” Coran was, in fact, helming the ship at the moment, but Lance couldn’t really say that outloud.

“He’s missing the cookies!”

His knees were starting to hurt from crouching and Gabrielle was fidgeting in a way he knew meant she was gearing up for a meltdown if they didn’t distract her soon. “Okay- that is a problem we can fix! How about we get a plate and pick out all of Chichi’s favorite cookies? That way, we can surprise him when he comes home!”

“Yeah!” she clapped her hands, jumping excitedly. Her curly black pigtails bounced, brushing the velvet straps of her ‘fancy pants’ (black satin overalls with red velvet trim and a sparkling Christmas tree stitched into the bib). She clutched his free hand and made a bee-line to the dessert table. “C’mon Papi! C’mon ‘brielle!”

“No running!” he laughed, letting her tug him along.

“No running!” he heard echo from the other end of the room, Keith’s voice much more stern and exasperated than his own. “James! Grab him before- oh thank God, that’s all we needed!”

A shrill screech sounded and he didn’t even have to look to know that Liam was protesting the ‘no running’ commandment. Regris was such a calm kid, he was a tad bossy, but not in a mean way. He’d been a quiet, fairly serious toddler, too. He’d lulled his fathers into a false sense of security, Lance was sure of it. 

Then they’d brought home the twins. Liam and Lexi were half-Galran, like Keith and they were as different from Regris as they were from each other. Even at age two, Liam was a whirling dervish- headstrong, outspoken, and bursting with energy. He’d skipped right over crawling, going from butt-scooting straight to running at top speed with no regard for obstacles in his path. Lexi, on the other hand, was quieter… but not in a calm, co-operative way like her eldest brother. No, Lexi was quiet because it was easier to be sneaky if she was silent. She also loved to _climb_ and was shockingly good at pulling things apart in record time. 

Lance had never seen a more thoroughly child-proofed home than the Griffin family quarters, and somehow, someway almost every day he heard reports of yet another broken piece of electronics or trip to the med ward to deal with fall-related injuries. 

James walked passed him with Liam pounding angrily on his father’s back. “We’re just gonna go out in the hall to burn off a bit of energy,” he said, smiling sheepishly.

“Baby treadmill,” Lance called after him, “hook it up to a generator- he’d be a big help with the power rationing.”

“Not happening, McClain!” James called back.

“It wouldn’t last a day, anyway,” laughed Keith, plucking Gabrielle out of Lance’s arms, “hi cutie! Look at you in your little elf outfit! You got a smile for Uncle Keith?”

“I think a day is pushing it,” Lance chuckled, handing Akari a paper plate and picking her up so she could reach the cookies. “Chichi likes brownies the best, nena.”

“I’ve seen Kelbraki chop shops take more time to strip a motor than my daughter,” Keith countered, pride coloring his voice as he made faces at the giggling baby. “A treadmill wouldn’t stand a chance against Lexi!”

“Lexi is smart!” Akari chimed in, “she fixeded my bike!”

“There was a barbie lodged in the spokes,” Lance explained, “Lexi got it out. Where is she anyway?”

“Acxa has her. She got a puzzle cube for her birthday last week and Lexi’s obsessed with it. Won’t let Acxa out of her sight, but it keeps her occupied.”

“Okay, sweetheart, you have to leave _some_ brownies for everyone else! How about getting some of those gingerbread paladins for Chichi?”

“Kay!” she shifted her focus, loading gingerbread men onto the plate with enough enthusiasm to crack the arm off of one of them. “Uh-oh!”

“You’re all good, munchkin. That’s easy to fix with a little icing,” Keith assured her. “Or you could just eat that one!”

“Can I?” She looked so hopeful that there was no way that Lance could deny her. “Papi? Please?”

“Sure… you can eat that _one_.” He set her down so she could eat the cookie. “Keith can you watch them for a few minutes? I want to make sure that _Santa_ had a chance to get something more substantial than punch and cookies to eat.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Keith replied, “always happy to hang out with my favorite nieces!”

“Nooo… don’t say that!” Akari protested, distress bunching up her little forehead “Narti! Don’t leeb out Narti!”

“You’re right,” Keith nodded solemnly, “I shouldn’t leave out Narti. So… how about… I’m always happy to hang out with _two of_ my favorite nieces? Is that better?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, visibly relieved, “that’s a lot better!”

Lance slipped away while Gabrielle was distracted, not wanting to risk her bursting into tears if he actually brought her attention to the fact that he was leaving. Hunk was just collecting Samuel from Shiro, the little boy sucking drowsily on a sippy cup. “Time for Santa to take a little break,” Lance announced. He dropped his voice and smiled at his husband, “figured you’d want something to eat… and maybe a cold beer?”

“That sounds amazing. The kids keep giving me cookies, but I’d kill for a sandwich or something.”

“Follow me, St. Nick!” He laughed, gesturing to the kitchen attached to the party room. “I can definitely find you a sandwich!”

Once the door to the kitchen slid shut behind them, Shiro opened up the heavy velvet coat and tugged the fake beard down over his chin. Without the long white whiskers, the ‘rosy cheeks’ he’d rouged on looked comical and Lance couldn’t help but giggle a little at him. “Just so you know, there is a whole plate of cookies being saved just for you because you had to work and miss the party.”

“Akari?” Shiro guessed.

“Mmhmm… she was very worried that you were sad and lonely without Tia Vero to keep you company.”

“Awww… she’s so thoughtful! What a little darling!” He pulled a beer out of the fridge as Lance assembled a sandwich for him.

“Yeah, she’s pretty awesome… but you have to remember to act excited about the cookies!” Passing Shiro the sandwich, Lance poured himself a mug of coffee, “have all the kids gotten pictures with you yet?”  
“Most of them… still waiting on Keith to herd his three up. Not sure that they are going to manage one picture with all of them this year.”

“Right? Liam is on a roll! I don’t think that kid has stayed still for more than five seconds since they got here.”

“Maybe you should give James a nudge about how cute individual pictures would be? No one else has any chance of convincing Keith to change the plan.”

“I mean, I’ll try… but James isn’t exactly Mr. Go-With-The-Flow,” he shook his head, leaning against the counter beside his husband and relishing the quiet moments. “But yeah… I’ll make the suggestion… So, what did all the kids ask for? Best part of you playing Santa is we get the inside track for being the favorite uncles who give the best gifts, so… spill…”

Shiro laughed and dished all of the wishlists of the children they considered family. Some were no surprise to Lance- Nikola wanted a telescope, Narti a laser tag set. Others were unexpected but typical kid stuff. Then there was the oddball requests- his personal favorites. He loved when kids asked for something completely out of left field. Most of the time, parents would ignore those strange requests, but he always tried to include them in his gifts. So, Narti was absolutely getting a box of band-aids in bright colors, and Regris was definitely getting a new pillow! 

They’d make sure to include something a bit more mainstream with it, but when he was a kid, he’d asked for a big bag of his favorite potato chips that he wouldn’t have to share and everyone had ignored it except for Lisa, who was at that point, Luis’ brand new girlfriend. She hadn’t celebrated with them on the twenty-fourth, but she had come by on Boxing Day bearing gifts. He had no idea what he got from anyone else that year, but he remembered opening the big box she handed him to discover not one, but _two_ massive bags of potato chips, both of them clearly labelled with his name and colorful letters proudly proclaiming that they weren’t for sharing.

It had meant so much to him that she’d actually listened, and she hadn’t decided his simple wish was silly or an impulse he’d forget. She’d asked him what he wanted, he’d answered, and she’d respected that he knew what he wanted. It had probably cost her next to nothing, but it had won him over to the girl that had started to occupy all of his big brother’s spare time. That was the thing that made him see Lisa as someone he could care about, someone he could trust. 

He and Shiro had been part of the lives of these children since day one, but it was important to them that the kids knew that they were loved for who _they_ were, not just for who their _parents_ were. They’d decided early on that this was one of the ways they’d show them that.

“What’s with the smile?” Shiro asked, dropping his arm around Lance’s shoulder.

“Just… I love our life,” he sighed, pulling away from the counter, to cuddle up to Shiro. It felt a little odd because of the padding of the suit, and the stuffed sleeve to hide his distinctive artificial limb, but the hands that settled on his hips were familiar and beloved, the smile he was graced with was the one that greeted him every morning for years now. 

“I love our life, too,” Shiro whispered, “I’m so glad you accidentally sent me that text you thought you were sending Hunk.”

“Oh my God!” He felt his cheeks burn with a blush, “we agreed! Never mention the text! That was… No! That was mortifying!”

“I think it was sweet- I’ve always thought it was sweet!”

He spluttered and groaned, hiding his face in Shiro’s chest, “stupid thirsty text.”

“That made me reevaluate everything and actually _see you_ for the amazing man you are,” Shiro soothed. “We both know I’m a little _too good_ at compartmentalizing. I was still seeing you as… the kid that flew the Blue Lion… not the man you’d become in the time you were a Paladin, the years that you spent on your family’s farm.”

“Can we talk about something else?” he grumbled, “this is embarrassing!”

“Come on, love, it wasn’t even that bad!”

“ **Anything else** ,” demanded Lance, glaring. Shiro must have sensed that he was at his limit for this particular subject because he just leaned in and kissed his cheek. For the most part, Lance loved ‘their story’... except for that one, single, mortifying text, he’d sent while tipsy. He supposed that _technically_ Shiro was right that it wasn’t that bad… and it had certainly _worked out_ for them… but any mention of it made him feel like a teenager who’d forgotten to lock his bedroom door when he _really should have_. It was mortifying, and Shiro **knew it!**

“How is the baby handling her first Christmas?” Shiro asked, blessedly shifting the subject at last. 

“She’s doing great! I’m not surprised though, little diva loves people and is loving all the cuddles.” He beamed with pride, “Keith has her right now. She’s so cute in her little elf shoes! I can’t believe you found those!” 

“Excuse me? Our girls are cute no matter what! Elf shoes are fun, but there is no way they can make Gabrielle any _cuter_ than she already is. They both max out the cuteness scale!” 

Releasing his husband from the snuggles, Lance laughed. Back when they’d first started looking into starting their family, people had thought he’d be the over-the-top dramatic parent. They’d been way off the mark, because Shiro was downright ridiculous. “Mmmhmm… I know, they are the most perfect and adorable girls to ever live. Preaching to the choir, babe.”

The sandwich didn’t take long to make and Shiro grabbed another beer from the fridge- this one for him. Conversation mostly died down then, both of them relishing the rare quiet, calm break from the festivities and kids. All too soon, the dishes and empties were cleared away and Lance found himself with the comical task of helping to fluff up the pillow that was serving as ‘Santa’s’ belly while Shiro used the glass of the cabinets as a make-shift mirror. 

“Babe,” his husband whispered after the suit was performance-ready again. “Look up!”

“What? Is the hat messed u- oh!” Eyes catching on the cheesy plastic leaves and berries hanging from the ceiling by a sparkling red ribbon, he grinned, “mistletoe.”

“Mistletoe,” Shiro echoed, grasping Lance’s wrist and giving a playful tug. Lance laughed and let himself fall against Shiro’s larger frame, his free hand lifting to cup Shiro’s jaw. “Remind me to tip the decorating committee.”

“Angling for a kiss? Santa! I’m a married man!”

“Scandalous,” Shiro agreed, settling his lips softly against Lance’s.

It was sweet.

Playful. 

Until Shiro’s arm tightened around his waist and that soft press of lips turned into a sharp nip at Lance’s bottom lip that made him gasp. Then the kiss positively ignited and everything else just… melted away.

He had no idea how kissing Shiro still managed to do this to him! He wasn’t complaining, though. Far from it! He just didn’t understand how even after all this time, a kiss could pack such a punch. He craned up on tiptoes, hands shifting to clutch at the velvet of Shiro’s Santa suit. Shiro growled softly, deepening the kiss until Lance was completely lost in it. They slotted themselves more tightly together, feasting on the kiss.

In that magical space between one moment and the next, the only thing in the world that existed was each other.

Time stopped.

It didn’t matter that a party was going on in the next room. Or that they were smushed up against kitchen cabinets. The layers of heavy velvet and padding that was keeping him from feeling the warm strength of his husband’s chest against his own mattered, though, and Lance made a grumbley sound as he tried to press closer. 

“Lance,” Shiro breathed, their lips parting for half a second as he turned them, pinning Lance to the glass with a groan.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! **Santa! NO!** ” 

It was the loudest thing Lance had ever heard in his life.

**“Let go of my Papi! RIGHT NOW!”**

 _Shit!_ That was Akari!

Who was currently **kicking** Shiro with all the strength she could muster!

“Nena! Stop!” He stepped away from Shiro and dropped into a crouch, “Akari… sweetheart… look at me! See? I’m fine. I’m completely fine. Okay?”

She looked so frightened and fierce it made his heart swell with pride. “See, precious? Papi’s fine.”

“He wasn’t hurtin’you?” she asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

“No, nena- Santa wasn’t hurting me. I promise.”

“Oh,” she nodded, looking relieved for all of three seconds before her eyes flew open and her little jaw dropped. He could watch rage ignite in those warm brown eyes and before it even registered that she was moving, she’d started kicking him in the shins and stomping on his foot… and he really, really hated himself for buying her those shiny, pointy party shoes! Because- OW! “M’telling! M’telling **Chichi!** You just letted Santa kiss you!! You **letted him!** That’s **bad!**!”

He _swore_ he heard Shiro stifle a laugh, and the man was going to suffer for it later! Their daughter thought he was an _adulterer_ and Shiro thought it was funny! “Akari! Sweetheart, stop it! Stop.” He scooped her up, effectively ending the assault on his legs, but prompting a renewed effort to avenge Chichi by pounding on his shoulders. “Little help here, _Santa_?”

“Akari,” Shiro whispered, because that was a thing he did. It was infuriating… but effective. The louder their daughter got, the more softly Shiro spoke. Sure enough, before he’d whispered her name a second time, she’d stilled. “Akari, I need you to help with a really big surprise, okay? Look…” He pulled off the fake beard he’d put back in place while their little girl had been screaming at Lance (because **that** made complete sense!?!?).

Her gasp would be adorable if the situation had been different. _”Chichi?!?!”_

He held a finger to his lips, shushing her, “yes, sweetheart… it’s me. See? Papi didn’t do anything bad. Okay?”

“You knowed?” she asked him, one little eyebrow arching up in question.

Lance nodded, his expression serious, “I would never ever kiss anybody but Chichi, Akari. I promise.”

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart. Hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.” He smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead, “never ever. You have to be a very big girl and help Chichi keep this a surprise, though. Right?”

“Oh! Ohhhhh! Okay!” She nodded so hard her pigtails bounced, “I’m good at surprises!”

“We know you are, sweetheart,” Shiro assured her, plucking her out of Lance’s arms and settling her against his chest. “You are so good at surprises. This surprise is a tiny bit different, though, okay? You can’t tell any of the kids about this.”

“Not ‘til it’s time,” she finished, nodding. “It ‘poils the fun.”

Uh-oh.

To be fair, that **was** exactly how they taught her ‘surprises’ worked. “Maybe we should talk about this at home?” This was going to be a bit… complicated.

“I bet Gabrielle is getting pretty tired, huh?” Shiro asked, veering the conversation away from the whole Santa debacle. “How about you stay in here with me and Papi will go get your sister and your stuff and I’ll meet you at home in a little while?”

“I don’wanna go home yet!"

“Oh, that’s too bad, I wanted to play that racing game with my big girl until bathtime,” Lance sighed, pouting his lip out dejectedly.

“ _Racing?!?!_ Okay!”

“Yay!” Shooting Shiro a quick smile, he tapped Akari’s nose playfully, “lemme go get Gabrielle from Uncle Keith. I’ll be right back.” In the few steps between them and the doorway, Akari had already launched into an explanation of making up a plate of cookies for Shiro, so it seemed that the distraction technique had worked. 

It didn’t take him long to collect the little gifts the girls had gotten as children of Atlas crew, Akari’s discarded sweater, the cookies, and the diaper bag. To this day, he didn’t know how children managed to need so much more _stuff_ than adults did for the exact same outing, but if he forgot something, it wasn’t a big deal. They lived on the Atlas, after all.

He found Keith chatting with Acxa. Gabrielle was tucked into the curve of his shoulder and held close with the ease of a parent. He seemingly oblivious to the toddler that was shimmying up his leg like he was a rope in PE class. 

“There you are!” Keith said, smiling, “everything okay? I sent Akari to tell you that the baby had conked out… um… where’s Akari?”

“Akari is hanging out with _Santa_ ,” he said pointedly, “I need to get her home because… of… ummm…” He glanced down to see Lexi staring up at him, all wide eyed curiosity, “hey- did you know that my favorite Christmas song is ‘I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’? It just… you know… _really resonates_ with me… especially this year.”

Acxa snickered, picking up on his code right away. Keith, unsurprisingly, took a second. “Huh? That doesn- Ohhhh! Gotcha. Sorry,” he cringed, “probably wasn’t the best idea to send her for you, I guess."

“Mmm,” he shifted his crap around to accommodate the baby and carefully shifted her from Keith’s shoulder to his own. She squawked and grumbled, but settled down as soon as she was nestled against his chest, her little fist grabbing a handful of his shirt like that would keep him close. “Lexi, precious- when Santa comes back it’s going to be your turn to get a picture with him and your brothers! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Ziding!” she echoed, grabbing onto the back pocket of Keith’s jeans and hauling herself up higher.

“Mmhmm… I bet it is going to be a really cute picture! Can you show me your best smile?” She grinned at him and he chuckled at the way she scrunched her eyes completely closed, “excellent smile choice! Okay sweetheart- Uncle Lance has to get the baby and Akari home. You have fun, love you!”

“Lob you!”

“I’ll grab James as soon as ‘Santa’ is back and get the photo of the kids so we don’t tie him up any longer than needed,” Keith offered.

“Vero and I will take charge with the clean-up.”

“Thanks Acxa! I appreciate that. Keith- it might be faster to do three pictures,” Lance pointed out, leaning in to accept a half-hug from his sister-in-law, “but whatever works.”

“Alright, really leaving now. Bye guys!”

Akari chattered the whole way home. Despite having been there with her for the entire time, she felt the need to fill him in on every ‘super fun’ thing she’d experienced at the party. It was downright adorable. It also drove home how big she was getting. Just a few months from turning four, she was starting to see the world like a big kid and not a toddler and her verbal skills seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds… and if she hadn’t just walked in him kissing Shiro while his husband was dressed like Santa, Lance would be much happier about that growing skillset.

As it stood, he was realizing that she would likely hang on to that memory for a while, no matter how fun and engaging the distraction was. He could only hope that her pride at being able to help with the ‘surprise’ would keep her from telling all the other kids that Santa wasn’t real… because, Lance really didn’t want any of them to lose that sense of magic just yet.

Gabrielle was out like a light, barely even stirring when he settled her into her little cot- not even when Akari insisted that he lift her up so she could kiss the baby and whispered her I love yous to her little sister. Such a sweet child, their Akari. Gentle… uh… most of the time. His shins and feet were still aching a little.

He fixed the two of them a snack that wasn’t eighty-five percent sugar and loaded up the racing game that Akari loved so much. Playing video games with a three year old was a very different experience from playing them with his friends and siblings. Akari was every bit as invested and animated as Pidge, but instead of trash talk and streams of angry, frustrated muttering; Lance was treated to enthusiastic praise and encouragement, and more than once Akari was so entranced by some background animation that she set her controller down to giggle and clap in delight.

Cutest.

Shit.

Ever.

Having kids was the best decision he and Shiro had ever made as a couple. Right up there with getting married in the first place. 

“Nena, you need to finish the race,” he coaxed, “or are you done playing?”

“Not done! But look! Dere’s _tickens!_ So silly!”

“Mmhmmm,” he chuckled, “silly chickens hanging out at a racetrack!”

“Uh-huh and d’cars go vwoom and d’tickens get scared!” She cackled like scared chickens was the peak of comedy.

“Yeah, because they are chickens,” he agreed, unsure if she’d pick up on the pun.

“Silly chickens!”

“Very silly- are you going to finish the race?”

“Oh!” Nodding, she grabbed her controller and rather clumsily steered her brightly colored car through the remainder of the track and then jumped and clapped with pride when she finished- in last place, by a huge margin. God, he loved her! “I did it! Papi, I did it!”

“You sure did,” he agreed, tugging her into a hug and kissing the top of her head, “I’m so proud of you!”

Shiro arrived home before Lance could set up the next race and Akari was so excited at his arrival that she forgot all about the video games. That worked out well, because dinner needed to be started and Gabrielle was due to wake up at any moment. Lance let Akari and Shiro spend a little time catching up while he threw together something that functioned as a meal. It was a little slapdash and not the most nutritious option, but he was tired and he’d rather serve something the kid would accept without a fight after the busy day they’d had than fight with her about how many bites of a new food she needed to take before she decided she didn’t like it. (Three. It was always three. It always had been three. It always would be three. No matter how intensely she tried to negotiate: three bites.)

So, frozen meatloaf, peas, carrots and cheesy potato ‘smiles’ for dinner it was going to be. He tried really hard not to think about how much sugar was in the three gallons of ketchup Akari would eat along with the meal. The oven wasn’t even fully preheated by the time Gabrielle started crying, so he just tossed the meatloaf in early and adjusted the timer (living with Shiro meant always, always, always using an oven timer).

After that, the evening was a whirlwind of parenting. Diapers, bottles, supper, peek-a-boo, bathtime, bedtime snack, tooth brushing, stories and tuck-ins. It was a pretty typical night, with one meltdown from the baby that no one could explain, and one minor tantrum from the toddler who wanted another story, and then another, and then ‘just one more pllllleeeasse!’ Nothing they couldn’t handle. 

Finally, he was able to crawl onto the couch and curl up against Shiro with his head resting on Shiro’s broad chest, his heartbeat slow and steady in his ear. “Storytime wars strike again?” Shiro guessed.

“Not a war tonight… barely a skirmish. She’s tired. How was the baby?”

“Fought sleep every step of the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s awake again in an hour.”

“They’re lucky they’re so cute,” he grumbled. Because, listen… he loved his daughters, but he was just… tired, okay? It had been a long ass day.

Shiro laughed, tipping his chin up to kiss him softly, “we’re the lucky ones.”

Sighing, he nodded, “mmm, you’re right. We are lucky. You especially.”

“Because I married you? I agree.”

“Well, yes,” Lance grinned, “I am one hundred percent a catch and I’m glad you realize that… but I was talking about the fun and awesome conversation you are going to get to have with Akari tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“Mmhmm… she asked me tonight if she could be anything she wanted when she grew up. I said yes, of course… and then she started babbling about how awesome it was going to be and I certainly didn’t want to wind her up at bedtime… so since you seemed perfectly fine with letting her think that I ‘letted’ Santa kiss me. **You** get to be the one to explain to her that she is not going to get to grow up to be Santa Claus _like Chichi_!”

“Wait… what?”

“Oh yeah… we were so worried that our three year old figured out that Santa wasn’t real, but oh noooo. _Our_ kid walked in on that and came to the conclusion that her Chichi is the **real** Santa and she is going to take over for him as soon as she’s a grown-up. So… yeah… have fun with that!”

“She… what?!?! But…” Shiro blinked at him, stunned.

“Hey now! You were the one who was allll about the mistletoe, Captain Shirogane!”

He opened his mouth like he was going to protest, then clapped it shut, clearly thinking better of it. Instead, a smoky smile bloomed on his face, his eyes taking on a familiar, hungry glint. “Mmm… you know what? Worth it.”

“Yeah?” Lance felt his cheeks heat up. Somehow, someway, even after all this time, occasionally, Shiro could make him blush like a kid again.

“Kissing you?” Shiro murmured, butting their foreheads together softly, “absolutely. That’s worth pretty much anything."

“Love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Lance,” he purred, lips settling warmly against his own to pick up from where they’d been interrupted by their daughter at the party. 

It was going to be a very Merry Christmas.


End file.
